The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing regular/reverse rotational type lints in circular knitting machine which is made to effectively remove not only lints (lint: a long fiber of cotton produced from yarn, which is produced from friction between mainly yarn and a knitting machine and the like, i. e., general designation of fiber dust) already fallen and piled on needle portion (array of knitting station: major portion for knitting such as yarn path, needle, cylinder, cam holder and needle disc) but also even lints being falling immediately before the yarn would be knitted, in order to previously prevent that innumerably many lints produced at knitting process in a circular knitting machine would be mixed in to a knitting of yarn through the needle portions.
In general, the lints produced during knitting work are piled and lumped on the needle portion together with dust flying and falling in air and other small impure particles whereby become a lint slub. The lint slub can be knitted together with yarns, and a fabric knitted at a state that thus the lint slub is mixed has a problem that which not only becomes inferior goods but also yarn is cut or needle is broken whereby the knitting work is discontinued. Accordingly, an attempt to effectively remove the lint of needle portion is yet a common task of knitting business entities as well.
Essentially, a knitting machine is a machine having a structure in which a cylinder inserted with needles having diameters of various size rotates and simultaneously moves the needles by a cam whereby knits, and the needle portion being a major part knitted along a circumference of cylinder is a part making to high-class of fabric knitted and outputted or controlling inferior goods, and since usually the needle portion is an open state on a mechanical structure, and when always the lint is fallen on the needle portion or piled thereon, the knitted fabric can not but only be an inverior goods, a removing the lint on needle portion can be said as a necessary matter, and for this sake, when exemplifying a technique for removing the lint in conventional circular knitting machine and mentioning a problem on its technique, it will be as follows.
As a conventional technique, a needle blower of circular knitting machine is made by a structure, as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, in which a compressed air feeding body C is attached to a center of rotating dial support B and then passed through a dial support B and communicated up to needle groove G of dial E immediately under dial needle D and a compressed air feeding hose F is connected to here and fed compressed air is made to feed to the needle groove G of dial E whereby the compressed air is jetted from discharging hole (a gap produced to a groove so provided that the dial needle freely moves to do a reciprocating movement) perforated to the dial needle groove G.
Reviewing a pathway in which the compressed air reaches the needle portion from the structure as above, since the needle groove G of dial E is formed concentrically with circumference of dial E and get dug annularly with wide width, the compressed air fed from the body C can not be jetted on to the needle portion as soon as reaching to the needle groove G of dial E and it is caught to the needle groove G at forward while it is blocked to upper plate H and the dial needle D at upward whereby naturally get dispersed to right and left along the needle groove G and thereby the compressed air fed to the needle groove looses considerable pressure, and since the compressed air of some part decreased with pressure is diffusely dispersed along the gap produced among a number of dial needle D and besides the dial itself is a rotating state, and since the compressed air dispersed through the gap among the dial needle D is sprinkled by a centrifugal force of rotation of dial E and at the same time a jetting direction of the compressed air jetted along the dial needle D also is jetted only to horizontal direction provided with dial needle D, and since it is made by a structure in which the compressed air is not dispersed by cylinder needle K provided vertically by cam holder I and cylinder J, not only a satisfiable compressed air is not reached up to the needle portion but also a directionality capable of covering the needle portion is not given as well, ant therefore there has been a problem that it does not make entirely any help for lint removing but it has only technical formality of lint removing.
As other conventional technique, in accordance with an air blowing device of circular knitting machine as showin in FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, each of multiplicity of compressed air feeding hose L extended from compressed air divider N is connected respectively to a number of air discharging tube M fixedly provided to lint removing part, and it is made by a structure in which the compressed air fed from the compressed air divider N is not fed all at once to multiplicity of compressed air feeding hose L but fed in turn one by one of each compressed air feeding hose L, and further since a number of air discharging tubes M are constructed to discharge the compressed air in a state fixedly provided at always predetermined constant position, it is a situation that the compressed air divider N and the compressed air feeding hoses L connected thereto are not twisted but a lint removing of the needle portion P is not made as it is, and in order to complement this, it is made to a structure vibrating the air discharging tube M, but since this also can not correctly be dispersed toward the lint of needle portion and it is a jetting of sprinkling being got out of needle portion, a problem decreasing an efficiency of lint removing becomes still remained.
In this case, even if it is assumed that it is made to a structure rotating the air discharging tube M in order to make the compressed air to be exactly jetted to the needle portion P in above described conventional technique, a number of compressed air feeding hoses L connected to the compressed air divider N becomes to be twisted to rotating direction, and eventually a problem which can not exert own function becomes still existed as it is.
In order to solve such a conventional various problems as above, is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for removing lints in circular knitting machine in which for the purpose making an air blowing device to be regular/reverse rotation and simultaneously the air feeding hose or electric power supply wire is not twisted so that exact jetting toward needle portion is made, a rotating device in which a plurality of air blowing devices are provided at a predetermined distance on the needle portion is provided in a state of surrounding a center shaft of the circular knitting machine and then, by means of including a driving device for reciprocately rotating the rotating device to regular/reverse direction within same angular range as set interval of plurality of air blowing device, the compressed air feeding hose or electric wire supplying the compressed air or electric power to the rotating device and a plurality of air blowing device provided thereto are made not to be twisted; and a removing efficiency of lint is made to be able to be maximized by removing the lint by a method of blowing a strong wind only toward needle portion without dead angle phenomenon with not to give any disturbance to knitting operation of circular knitting machine; and at the same time the regular/reverse rotation type rotating device provided with plurality of air blowing device is made to be easily provided not only upon manufacturing the circular knitting machine but also to already provided existing circular knitting machine; and further assembling and disassembling are possible in accordance with various pattern and design of knitting fabrics, and handling is easy whereby even a non-expert can easily assemble or disassemble; and structure is simple and economic so that a knitting fabric can be made to a fabric of high classed quality without inferior.
In order to attain above described objects, the present invention comprises:
a circular rotating device provided with a plurality of air blowing devices at a predetermined intervals, which is a state rotatably surrounding a center shaft of circular knitting machine and located to interior of yarn group;
a driving device which is fixedly provided at one side around the center shaft, and continuously and reciprocately rotating the rotating device to only a range of predetermined angle smaller than angle of 360xc2x0; and
which makes an air hose for feeding the compressed air or electric wires for supplying an electric power to a plurality of air blowing device provided to the rotating device not to be twisted, and
which removes by means of removing by blowing the lint of needle portion by a strong wind generated at a plurality of air blowing device reciprocately moving within predetermined angular range in accordance with regular/reverse rotating operation of the rotating device.